EVIDENCE OF PIN IMPLANTATION AS A MEANS OF VERIFYING DEATH DURING THEGREAT PLAGUE OF MARSEILLES

The evidence obtained for the methods used in verification of death du ring the Great Plague of Marseilles in 1722 is presented here. This ev idence was gathered during the excavation of a mass grave dating from this epidemic, and is based on two adjacent interments. The technique used at that time was the implantation of bronze pins into the toes. T his method is precisely described in the medical treatises dating from this period, which list different death verification methods. The fea r of ''false death'' and the burial of still living people characteriz ed the end of the 17th and the 18th centuries. It should be noted that the main cause of apparent death is presented in the same medical tre atises as the plague. This observation is the first anthropological ev idence of the use of this forensic method to verify the fact of death.